Outdoor cooking has gained tremendous popularity, particularly among parties in rural areas of the American West. Due to a variety of factors, one of these types of cooking that has proven to be tremendously popular is what is known as “Dutch oven” cooking.
In Dutch oven cooking, a party who desires to prepare a meal places the meal within a large, covered, typically metal (cast iron), container called a Dutch oven. These containers are specially designed so as to allow heat to be dissipated evenly throughout the containers and so as to allow a meal to be cooked. Heat is imparted to a Dutch oven typically through the use of a hot piece of combusting material such as a piece of charcoal or a hot wood ember. Depending upon the circumstances, a variety of other types of heating materials may also be utilized. Dutch ovens provide a simple, straightforward and effective way to bake items while outdoors, and thus provides a user the ability to prepare a wider variety of foods than those that are traditionally made available in such settings.
However, one problem that takes place in such an environment is that fire is generally utilized to create the cooking embers. In some particular instances an open flame cannot be utilized when a burn ban is in effect. Another problem that exists in the prior art is that use of these Dutch ovens requires that a variety of other pieces of equipment also be utilized in conjunction with these devices. These additional pieces of equipment include charcoal starter chimneys, devices for carrying and storing these ovens, and devices for handling these hot ovens. Storage of such devices and combinations thereof are typically reserved to devices that carry an individual oven or a large wooden box that can carry several ovens. However, when not in use, these large containers are in many instances so large and awkward so as to prevent their meaningful usage, and become troublesome to a user.
What is needed therefore is a device that allows for the easy transport and use of Dutch ovens in a variety of circumstances. What is also needed is a device for storing the various items related to outdoor and Dutch oven cooking. What is also needed is a device that provides a safe closed system for Dutch oven cooking. Embodiments of the present invention meets these needs and provides these advantages.